10 Sep Using biobanks to boost research: a how-to guide
By Jyoti Madhusoodanan, nature
Rafaella Rogatto De Faria was nearing the end of her PhD when her adviser proposed a fresh project. The idea was to analyse genetic, imaging and surgical-outcome data, to find biomarkers that could help to identify which people with osteoarthritis would respond best to knee-replacement surgery. De Faria, an athlete and a biomedical engineer at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, knew the profound impact of cartilage and joint injuries on people’s lives, and stayed on to pursue the project after she defended her PhD in July 2024.
She and her colleagues began by gathering data from people being treated for osteoarthritis at the university. The team has a cohort of 200 individuals so far, with data gathered over the past two years. “We are actually creating our own biobank,” De Faria says. “We don’t have this yet here.” Read more…